Customer Reviews

Jade Peony

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
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2 star:		(1)
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Wayson Choy writes beautifully as he portrays three different voices. Learning about the immigrant experience to the Western world, Chinese culture is extremely apparent in this novel.

Choy writes beautifully and his incorporation of the Chinese language into the dialogue is wonderful. You will see the differences in beliefs between the generations.

Being Chinese, I found a lot of the details familiar as Choy captured small, Chinese nuances. This book captures a range of emotions; I cried within the first section, laughed later on, and felt frustrated with some of the characters and sided with others.

Definitely read this book. It's a wonderful contribution to Asian literature as well as Canadian lit. It's an easy but insightful read.

I was initially drawn to read The Jade Peony by a review in the National Post about Watson Choy's new novel, All That Matters. I have always been fascinated with literature about Asia and Asian culture (such as Life and Death in Shanghai and Wild Swans ) and novels about Asian-Canadian life, such as Denise Chong's Concubine's Children have held a particular appeal to me. Hence my interest in this book.

I found The Jade Peony enjoyable for two reasons. First, it is a tale of Vancouver's Chinatown during the Second World War. It gave me a glimpse into what life would have been like in this city and in Canada during that time. In particular, the forbidden relationship between a teenage Chinese girl and a Japanese boy really demonstrates the cultural struggle faced by Canadians during the war. The lines between friend and foe are confused by fear of dreadful events far away.

Second, it carefully and successfully expresses the delicate dance that immigrants and their children go through when they move to Canada: how to retain the old way and still embrace the new life. In The Jade Peony, we see these first-generation Chinese-Canadians want to run from the old culture and the older generation vainly grasping to keep them aware. It is hard to decide who should win out, because to change is required for survival but so much is dying out. (I suppose it is what every parent and grandparent goes through as they see their children grow up and away.)

If you have ever lived in or near Vancouver, read this book. If you have ever experienced the duality felt by anyone who immigrates to a new country or who is born of immigrant parents, read this book. If you have experienced or seen neither of these things, read this book to get a good sense of what you have missed.

THis is an amazing book! MY father grew up in Chinatown (Vancouver) at appox. the same time, it's nice to read and try to understand his early life.

I read the first part in a matter of days. It was so powerful that I cried, in the middle of the waiting room at my doctors office. I still have not read the entire book as I'm scared to experence such powerful emotions, in public. I will finish it though.

Like a few other pieces of great literature of the 20th century, this book followed the adventurous trend in that century to dish out more than one first-person narrative sections. As a result, the read is so-so (at least for me) in the beginning and rapidly and immensely grew on me towards the end. THIS BOOK IS A TRILLIUM AWARD WINNER; one can say it is almost an equivalent to the Pulitzer in the United States as in Canada. I wondered "how the heck did this book win such a prestigious award?" when I was reading through the first section of the book; however, the second and the third section honestly kept going at the reader. More information more perspective more everything. Each of the three sections is in a first person narrative of three respective sibling (one sister, two brothers) in one Chinese Canadian family in the early 20th century. Racism, poverty, discrimination linger in the novel, but so do compassion, serenity and persistence.

The reason why I said it grew on me is because as the reader gets to the third section, a conversation between the narrator in the third section and the previous narrators become very interesting. The narrator speaks and hears on the surface, but since the reader has previously gone into the minds of the narrators in the first and second section, the reader can strategically read between the lines. One can almost "get smart" on the narrator narrating, be glad and secretly proud that he knows something the narrator doesn't know. "No no thats not what he means!" "No she realy does not like this despite how she has made you believe" are my responses to the narrator's prose sometimes. The contrast betweeen the different narrators' opinions on the family and humanity in general are also very mesmerizing.

I do not want to give the plot away, but this is a very very good read. It is not a must read for everybody I wouldnt say. For those who are interested in Asian America culture should 100% grab this title, however. I loved it.

As most people know, the 1930s were as difficult for Canadians as they were for the rest of the world. But in Vancouver's Chinatown, times were especially tough for new immigrants struggling to survive economically, socially, and psychologically. THE JADE PEONY is the story of one particular family told from the viewpoints of the three youngest children (each child has a section). By using this technique, author Wayson Choy gives readers an intimate glimpse into the psyche and family life of Chinese immigrants over the span of a decade.

To those who don't know the history of Canadian Chinese immigrants, the characters might appear irrationally suspicious, wary, and racist. For those who know about the treatment of Chinese laborers brought over to work on the railway, the government head tax that permanently separated men from the families they'd hoped to bring over from China, and the attitudes of white folks in general, you'll understand where the characters' animosity comes from. Unfortunately, there's far too little back story to help readers unfamiliar with those events to fully appreciate the sentiments of people trying to cope in a world they don't know or understand and ultimately fear. Small wonder they stay in Chinatown as much as possible.

By the time WWII is well underway, Chinatown residents are learning about the atrocities Japanese soldiers are committing against people in China. The immigrants' resentments are absorbed by their children and its sad to see the youngest child, Sekky, slowly turn against his Japanese classmates.

Since the book is a collection of reminiscences from children who are now adults, the story isn't heavy on plot, yet this family's story is exquisitely told. I was puzzled that the book didn't include the fourth and oldest childest's point of view until my husband (also raised in Chinatown) reminded me that four is an unlucky number for the Chinese. Whether this is the reason or not, it's clear that some things, in all cultures, are slow to change.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It is a wonderful account of the lives of three young Chinese-Canadians in the 30's and 40's. The descriptive work enthralled me for hours, I just couldn't put it down. The characters were absolutely enchanting. I especially enjoyed the character of "Sekky", the "weak" one. The way that Choy tells a story is absolutely fantastic. I am definetly going to find some more of his work!

An avid reader of Asian and Asian American interest books, I found this short novel to be a pleasant treat. Choy explores issues and personalities that are distinct from the more average and classic types you might find in other books that try only to bring attention to Asian identity. I was especially touched by the stories of a young boxing boy and the vague, poetic discovery of his sexuality and an observer's account of love under the pressure of World War II. This is an easy book to read, but no less accomplished for it. Choy's talent is evident in the fact that he manages to teach without preaching and move without being overly sentimental. A subtle work.

This novel which reads like three mini-memoirs is entrancing. It tells the story of three Chinese children who have to deal with barriers, both real and perceived, resulting from their alien-ness in Canada in the years leading up to WWII. The stories also expertly describe the desire of the Chinese aliens to remain true to their roots in an era of largescale technological and scientific advances.

Imagined barriers like Liang's fear of the Monkey King are crushed and good things arise. Internal barriers are erected by Jung to protect himself from his own homosexual feelings. Sekky, the youngest child, was protected from birth by his grandmother because of his frailty and loses his senses temporarily when she is no longer around to protect him. His babysitter suffers terribly for her cross-barrier love for a Japanese boy. Not all barriers are right and not all are wrong and not all should be torn down.

Wayson Choy writes beautifully and is thorough in his research of the time period. This is one book that would be a welcome addition to anyone's bookcase.

My grade nine English teacher had a huge crush on Wayson Choy. I grew up in Toronto, Ontario. Wayson Choy lives in Toronto, Ontario. By some miracle my teacher got him to come and speak to our entire student body while she stood by the stage and looked as if she had won the lottery (and was sexually attracted to it, too)
In all fairness, Wayson Choy was a very well spoken man and he had some lovely insight into his book (There is a chapter in it which he wrote after an assignment on the colour pink. The rest of the novel followed)
On the book, I would say it is worth the read, you dont have to be a Chinese immigrant living in Canada to appreciate it. I wouldnt say its the best example of Canadian literature I have ever read, but I wouldnt let someone insult it, either.

The book is about an immigrant Chinese family during the 1940's. Mainly, it's about the two boys coming of age and how their lives turn out from their decisions. The book takes place in Vancouver, when a lot of immigrants were migrating to the United States. Jook-Liang is the only sister of Jung-Sum and Sek-Lung and their guardians Poh-Poh and Old Wong are the other members of their family. Read about their struggle with racism, and the clash of the new and old ways of life. As Old Wong and Poh-Poh help them remember where they come from. It's exciting to find out their individual outcomes and what they learn from different experiences. Read this book to find out how well the old ways clash with the new ways of the States. I really enjoyed reading this book because I could relate to it and it had little adventures. It helps you to see the struggle of one family during a crucial time in history. Being young and free makes it hard to be limited to things and places because of what you are.